You may have just arrived home from your holiday abroad with memories of different cultures, colours, smells and experiences overloading your senses. How exactly can you bring these to your home- so that the memories live on through your interior design?
Harriet McMicking has mastered the art of allowing travel experiences to effortlessly enable the creation of an interior style. As a result of her passions for travel, photography, interior design and adventure, TIPI Interiors was born.
Tell us about yourself?
I'm a country girl, originally from a property near Goondiwindi and these days I call Orange home, a heavenly pocket of central west NSW.
The turning point in my life for TIPI I guess was during my GAP year, when I spent 12 months working at a prep school in England and travelling during every possible opportunity around Europe. Living somewhere so central where I could experience a different country, language, architecture and culture in a matter of hours really wet my appetite for a lifetime of travel and exploring all things interiors. I still remember being in Fez in Morocco (by the way it's the most incredible medieval city, made up of 1000s of labyrinths) and thought to myself, "Haddy this is it... I know exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life – I want to help people hand pick treasures that they saw on their travels but didn't bring home with them."
Best thing about the business?
Being able to do what I love everyday and combining my passions in life - travel, photography, interiors and adventure.
Best tip for how people can incorporate travel into their home?
I believe that a home should reflect your life story, style and of course your travels.
As a good starting point I would suggest you think of the places, markets, hotels or landscapes that completely captivated you. Then try and pinpoint a particular scene or just the elements, colours or patterns that you would love to recreate in your home -- it might be the blue and white island feel of Santorini with pops of pink bougainvillea or you might prefer the British Colonial style often seen in hotels around Rajasthan or you might just want to line your hallway with gorgeous colourful handwoven runners that you saw in a rural village of Bolivia.
Another tip of mine would be to start creating little nooks around your home with trinkets and treasures that you’ve bought on your travels, things that will help tell your story of who you are and where you've been – use artwork, vintage maps, soft furnishings and even transform your own photographs into a gallery wall.
Your home will evolve over time so don’t think it has to be picture perfect and straight out of a magazine right from the very start. As you travel more throughout life too, you'll find that you develop a new appreciation for different interior styles and their influences. My biggest tip of them all though - Let your travels effortlessly allow you to create an interior style, that’s uniquely your own.
Your thoughts on interior trends for next year?
To be frankly honest, I don’t tend to follow trends too closely. Instead I believe in buying quality pieces that give meaning to your interior style.
Tell us about your new collection?
The new collection from Vietnam will be launched in early 2018. It will feature a beautiful range of blue and white ceramics (ginger pots, vases, drinking vessels and pots), local Vietnamese art and exquisite embroidered table linen.
Your Hanoi Travelshoot – what did you think?
I had the best time! Qui was not only a very talented photographer but took me to parts of the Old Quarter that I wouldn't have discovered otherwise. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing afternoon exploring the bustling streets, trying street food and getting a better taste of daily life in Hanoi. Qui's images were truly above and beyond my own expectations too. He has an incredible eye for capturing the heart and soul of exploring a new city.
Favourite travel destination and why?
I love the desert – I've explored the Sahara Desert in Morocco on camel, roared around the Thar Desert in India in a jeep (actually to shoot TIPI's first furniture collection) and have galloped across the breathtaking Atacama Desert in Chile. There's something about the striking contrast between the sand and the sky and the vast emptiness in every direction. It’s a place where I feel I can completely disconnect from everything in the world. And I tend to dream up my wildest dreams there too!
Next holiday / travel destination?
I'm still debating with myself over where. But Uzbekistan is high on my list. As is Portugal and Morocco.
Capture the moments of inspiration for your business.